At Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) competitions horses pass a veterinary inspection for judgement of ‘fit-to-compete’. However, FEI Veterinary Delegates (VDs) often differ in opinion. The aim of the present study was to evaluate intra- and inter-observer agreements of ‘fit-to-compete’ judgement and compare these with objective gait analysis measurements. Twelve horses were evaluated by three experienced VDs and one veterinary specialist and video-recorded for re-evaluation later. Simultaneously, quantitative gait analysis measurements (Qhorse®) were acquired. Inter-observer agreement during live evaluations was fair (κ=0.395, 58% agreement). Intra-observer agreement between live observations and videos at one month and one year was 71% and 73% respectively. Sensitivity and specificity of motion symmetry measured with quantitative gait analysis system were 83.3% and 66.7% respectively, against the consensus of all observers as a reference. Our findings might suggest that more VDs should be used to adequately judge ‘fit-to-compete’. Quantitative-gait-analysis may be useful to support decision making during fit-to-compete judgement.
